🎧' Medicine – Daughter

The cold cut my face like a blade. Snow piled up on my shoulders, in my hair, but I kept walking. Every step was a choice. Every step was for her.

Jackie had run off after the fight with Shauna. Everyone went silent after that, like no one knew what to do. I hated Shauna for what she did. And I hated Jackie, too—for being stupid enough to go out into a snowstorm.

But she hadn’t gone far. The snow made it nearly impossible to move, and I saw her there—in the middle of that endless white—sitting alone, knees pulled up, chin resting on her hands. Her thin jacket barely covered her shoulders. Her hair was damp, sticking to her face. She was shivering, but she didn’t move. Like the cold didn’t matter anymore.

Jackie.

I hesitated for a second before getting closer. She didn’t look at me. Didn’t move. She just breathed, deep and slow, like she was trying to hold back everything she didn’t want to say. I knelt beside her, the cold biting through my coat and straight into my skin.

"Jackie..." I brushed her hair out of her face.

She turned to me with that sharp look she gave when she was hurt. Like I was just another knife in her back.

"If you came to convince me to go back, don’t waste your time," she said, her voice shaking from cold—and pride. I took off my jacket and held it out without saying anything. After a moment, she finally took it. Slowly. Proud. Wounded.

"I came because I care. Because you ran out into a snowstorm… You have to come back, Jackie."

She took a deep breath. Looked away. Stayed quiet for what felt like forever. And then, she whispered:

"She stabbed me in the back. My best friend. And you all… you all knew. And you let me look like a fool." She looked at me again. This time with tears in her eyes, and a voice so small it barely sounded like her.